This invention relates generally to the art of shower strainer fittings, and more particularly to a type of shower strainer fitting having a major portion thereof which can be installed when a concrete floor is poured.
Typical shower drain fittings are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,731,617, 1,766,621 and 2,019,779 to Fleming, 1,999,277 to Boosy, and 3,420,552 to Mork. Each of these shower strainer fittings includes a bell-shaped coupling member having a tubular portion at its lower end with a 2 inch pipe female coupling, that is, a coupling with an inner diameter of about 23/8 inches for receiving a standard shower drain, 2 inch, pipe. An upper end of the bell-shaped coupling includes a flange thereon extending radially outwardly from an outer surface thereof. Threaded holes extend downwardly, parallel to the axis of the tubular portion, through the flange into enlargements on the outer surface of the lower tubular portion for receiving bolts which bolt an annularly-shaped, flat, shower pan clamp to a top surface of the flange. A male threaded tubular stud of a shower strainer is then screwed through a female threaded hole of the shower-pan clamp into the lower tubular portion of the bell-shaped coupling member.
A major disadvantage with such prior art shower strainer mounting assemblies is that when they are installed in concrete floors, spaces, or holes, must be provided in such floors for mounting them. Such spaces are often provided by boring holes in concrete floors and by attaching spacers to concrete forms before concrete is poured. Thereafter, a 2 inch pipe is extended up into the space in the concrete floor and the bell-shaped coupling of a prior-art shower strainer mounting assembly is mounted on the 2 inch pipe. Thereafter, any space left between the bell-shaped coupling and the concrete floor must be filled with a filling material. Such a procedure is labor intensive, and therefore, unduly expensive. Thus, it is an object of this invention to provide a shower strainer mounting assembly which can be mounted in a concrete floor without the necessity of providing a space in the concrete floor for mounting the shower straining mounting assembly.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a shower strainer mounting assembly having a cast-in adaptor coupling which can be cast into a concrete floor of almost any thickness.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a shower strainer mounting assembly which is inexpensive to construct and relatively efficient and easy to use.